This week’s films are stories from three continents

— from Orcas Island Film Festival —

The brilliance and struggles of Indigenous Aboriginal youth with IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS from Australia; The trauma of Indigenous past with the Cannes award-winning film OUR MOTHERS from Guatemala; and on the comedic front, the story inspired by a group of singing middle-aged fisherman from the English seaside town of Cornwall.

Thank you for your support and enjoy the films!

“In My Blood”
Australia | 2019 | 84min. Director Maya Newell

A quietly masterful portrait of growing up Indigenous in Australia’s Northern Territory. Dujuan is a 10-year-old Arrernte and Garrwa boy from Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in Australia. Full of life and exuberance, he learns, with the support of his loving mother and grandmother, to hunt, speak two Indigenous languages and become a healer. Dujuan is politically astute and a leader in the making. But within the westernized school system, his strength and intellect go unnoticed and the colonial approaches to education threaten him with failing grades. At the time of filming, 100% of the youth in Alice Springs detention centers were Aboriginal, and throughout the film it becomes increasingly clear that the system is set up to work against young boys like Dujuan. This powerful film, made in collaboration with Dujuan’s family, is an emotional journey through the fight to mend an educational schism between traditional culture and colonial ideas and solidify a future for the youth. Watch Trailer and Buy Ticket Here

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“Fishermens’ Friends”
England | 2019 | 112min | Director Chris Foggin

Inspired by a true story, this warm-hearted tale of a singing group from Cornwall, England reels in the laughs! A fast-living, cynical London music executive (Daniel Mays) heads to a remote Cornish village on a stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss (Noel Clarke) into trying to sign a group of shanty singing fishermen (led by James Purefoy). He becomes the ultimate “fish out of water” as he struggles to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band and their families (including Tuppence Middleton) who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. As he’s drawn deeper into the traditional way of life he’s forced to reevaluate his own integrity and ultimately question what success really means. Watch Trailer and Buy Ticket Here

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“Our Mothers”
Guatemala | 2019 | 78min | Director Cesar Diaz

Winner of the Camera d’Or for Best First Film at the Cannes Film Festival. Guatemala, 2018. The whole country is immersed in the trial of the soldiers who sparked the civil war. Victim statements come one after another. Ernesto is a young anthropologist working for the Forensic Foundation; his job is to identify the missing. One day, while hearing the account of an old woman, he thinks he has found a lead that might guide him to his father, a guerrillero who went missing during the war. Against his mother’s wishes, he flings himself body and soul into the case, looking for truth and resilience. (Spanish with English subtitles) Watch Trailer and Buy Ticket Here